Seasonal variations of microwave radiation of saline soils in the Kulunda steppe on evidence derived from SMOS

Remote monitoring of saline soils is based on the regularities of the microwave soil radiation. The paper presents the study results of seasonal variations (2012-2014 years) of microwave radiation of saline soils in the Kulunda steppe situated in the south of West Siberia. The annual graph of thermodynamic temperature in the soil surface has a periodic appearance with its minimum in January and maximum in July. The annual graph of brightness temperature shows two maximum and two minimum peaks in the year. Summer and winter maxima correspond to the highest thermodynamic temperature, while the minimum values - to the interval of zero temperature of the underlying surface. These peaks depend on freezing dynamics and thawing dynamics of soils.